Walking the Nile Paperback – February 14, 2017

I was captivated by Levison Wood's writing and enormous courage when I recently read "Walking the Americas." I immediately looked for another of his books and have just finished "Walking the Nile". I can't find words to express what an outstanding book this is. I couldn't put the book down -- page after page, it was a fantastic experience. Many times it all felt so real it was as if I was walking alongside Levison, Boston, Turbo ... I can truly say the book changed me in some ways. It taught me so many things about human nature and the world we live in.I'm expecting delivery from Amazon of Levison's book "Walking the Himalayas" and will be wasting no time to start reading it.Levison is English, but I believe he "belongs" to all of us, whatever nation you live in. He is a citizen of the world. I give this 10+ stars, if it were available.

This book is a good read and I would recommend the book to anyone interested in geography of the countries along the Nile. Mr. Wood's writing is excellent and easily held my attention. I especially enjoyed his in-depth analysis of the political situations in the various countries along the Nile. However, the book is woefully lacking in maps and GPS locations.

I was not familiar with Levison Wood before beginning this book and was a bit skeptical about the real peril involved in this trek in this era of satellite communication. Wood's cover photo which makes him appear to be a youthful Robert Shaw did nothing to persuade me this might be nothing more than a prose version of reality television. I was absolutely wrong. As the book progressed I became more and more impressed with the fortitude and persistence exhibited by Woods and his ability to weave a compelling tale of an arduous trip. Any final doubts vanished when I found out one of his companions tragically died during the journey. Wood also deals with such weighty topics as ecological disasters, rampant HIV disease, religious fanaticism, and tribal genocide. However he is still able to portray the generosity he encounters from most of the country's impoverished people. This is an excellent book and I have already ordered his next one about Walking the Himalayas.

He's a good writer and I have enjoyed every book he's written. This is real adventure stuff.

I found this book a very readable story of a modern day adventurer retracing the routes of multiple explorers who were in search of the Niles source . The author mixed the current human situation of the region with history and geology to help give the reader some new insights. I would have liked to have the author compare and contrast his experiences with those of Baker, Speke, Burton, etc. I am a fan of 19th Century Nile River explorers. This book will go with that collection.

The book came on time in good condition. But it's a crap book.This guy Levison apparently gets contracts to walk various odd places - the Iraq War was one, the Amazon - and he's so obsessed with his own adventure that he forgets to describe the territory. He's probably the only English-language writer to visit the Sudd in recent years, yet he has almost nothing to say about it. At the Pyramids of Merowe, he manages to tell us that they're reddish and the sand is yellowish. He doesn't ever get close enough to the River itself, because he's managing his politics along the hiking trails somewhere near the River. He tells us lots about national politics in the Sudan, but he does not care for sociology. Nor does he describe the towns and houses along the river. He apparently never attempted to fish, or to watch fishermen. And most of the book is about the touristy parts of the Upper Nile, in Uganda. I bought this book to learn about the people of the Nile - but Levison was only concerned with the people who stamped his documents and guarded him through civil wars and stuff. We don't learn anything about the Nilotic tribes, about the environment, nor even how the air smelled or the sand burned. Pissed me off several times, but I finished it - then kicked myself for bothering.

I almost didn't read this book because of the cliché cover. The book is more than the author just walking the length of the Nile. The author does a great job of explaining what he's going through and giving you just enough history of each location and nation that he's walking through to make it much more than just an adventure story. I think it was interesting to see the trials and pitfalls that he had to go through just to cross borders and areas in certain African nations. If I had to ask for more I wish a detailed map would've been included in the book to see where he was stage by stage. The author also does a great job of not glorifying himself as this unbelievable person doing unbelievable feats. The truth is this guy spent the better half of the year walking in through Africa and doesn't have many negative things to say besides taking pity on certain situations. Overall a terrific book and would recommend overwhelming. Also after doing a bit more research it was documented on tv as well on Animal plant.

An adventure worth reading about!

No doubting his endurance, but the book itself is ok, passable, not as good as 'Walking The Himalayas' though.

I will read all of his books now. There are more details about his encounters than are held in the videos we are seeing on TV. I really like this guy.

I feel myself involved in the journey. This journey brings a clear picture of inner Africa. I had not known that Egypt is so bad to travel now. Last year I had almost planned to visit it. Thanks to the guts and wits of lev who gave me a vivid description of the Africa.

Great read.

Wood gelingt mit Walking the Nile ein großer Spagat. Einerseits erzählt er sein persönliches Abenteuer, andererseits berichtet er als reisender Journalist. Dabei wirkt die Geschichte weder protzig noch zu trivial. Der Leser hat stets das Gefühl, dass besonders die spannenden Reisebegegnungen und -Stationen hinreichend ausschmückend erzählt sind. Zeitgleich kommen in kurzen und überschaubaren Passagen wissenswerte Hintergründe zu diesen Reisestationen. Somit ist das Buch lehrreich und spannend gleichermaßen erzählt. Eine großartige Leistung (sein Projekt und sein Buch).